Keeping Your Computer Safe

By Robert Sanborn

I have always enjoyed helping people with their computer problems even if they get infested with the latest malware and some of the ones I have seen lately have been very good.  I have seen lots of the bogus anti-virus products but the one lately called “Platinum Anti-Virus” was written very well and was very convincing and what gave it away was the constant popups that would not allow you to do anything else on your computer.   

Another one I saw recently was a bogus FBI warning that wanted you to ship them $200 through an online payment processing system Moneypak.  That was very well done, and even turned on your video camera to show you looking at the warning screen. Problem is that if the FBI ever wanted to confront you with something, they do it with a knock on the door. 

The last one was my poor cousin getting a call from someone alleging to be from Microsoft telling her that they are responding to one of the error reports. She was not wise enough to just disconnect the phone but allowed them to show her the problems on her computer and hung up when she discovered that they wanted money to help her.  

In the first two cases, the computers were pretty much up to date, anti-virus programs were running, and they thought they were being cautious about the websites they were visiting and not opening emails that they didn’t know.  Still they got hit.  

How do you keep safe? Here are my own tips.  First, get a good internet security package; Kaspersky Internet Security (or Pure, or One); Symantec Norton Internet Security; and make sure that they are always up to date.  Next, Make sure that Adobe Acrobat Reader, Flash Player, and Oracle’s Java are up to date.  Same thing with Windows; if you haven’t seen Windows update itself at least once a month, then click on Start, All Programs, and look for Windows Update. If you are using Internet Explorer, make sure you are running version 8 for Windows XP or 9 for Vista and Windows 7.  

Next, if you are not using Norton Internet Security, then go to the Norton site and download “Safe Web”.  http://safeweb.norton.com/ Download their “Safe Web Lite” browser plug in.  Then go get the one from McAfee and download their “Site Advisor” http://www.siteadvisor.com/.  Both of these products help to keep your internet browsing secure and hopefully, will flag a site before you go to tell you whether it is safe to visit.  

Finally, if things just don’t look that right to you, then get a copy of my favorite malware scanner, Malware Bytes, www.malwarebytes.org. just download the free version, install it, update it, and have it scan your computer.  This should keep you and your computer, live and well.